Corn Harvest Research

We know that sixty percent of yield loss during harvest occurs at the corn head. But how?   

A multiyear study found that stalk variability increased with yield, especially in 200-bu. and higher yield environments. 

“Multiyear, on-farm harvest research confirmed a direct correlation between stalk variability and yield,” says Dustin Bollig, farmer and vice president of sales and marketing for Drago. “And it isn’t what most people think: as yield increases, so does variability.”   

Along with ear bounce, studies have shown that deck plate gaps as small as 1/8 inch between plants and plates can result in a one to four bushel per acre loss.*

“Your best fields have the highest potential kernel loss.”  

To substantiate this claim, Drago conducted three years of field research, attaching electronic sensors from Headsight® Harvesting Solutions** to the self-adjusting deck plates of a Drago corn head. The highly sensitive sensors measured the number and extent of gap adjustments made during harvest.   

“Over the course of the three-year study, we uncovered more and more eye-opening data about how extensive stalk variability is within a given field,” Bollig explains. “We continued to refine our research over its course to validate the results.” 

The study has consistently demonstrated that row-to-row deck plate gaps differ by 1/8 inch or more nearly 90% of the time. In higher-yielding areas, row-to-row deck plate gaps vary by 1/4 inch or more 40% of the time.  

GAP DIFFERENCE BASED ON YIELD

DECK PLATE ADJUSTMENTS/ACRE  

Drago’s 2020 research revealed that its deck plates were making nearly two adjustments of 1/2 inch every second and 47 adjustments of 1/8 inch every second across the corn head.  

“What we’ve seen is that the automatic self-adjusting deck plates deliver a significant improvement to manage gaps and capture more yield at harvest,” Bollig says. “Often, gap size differences were significant enough that a single deck plate setting across all rows of the corn head could result in small ear loss, let alone kernel loss.”   

We know corn stalk width is highly variable throughout the field, from plant to plant and area to area.  

And while the introduction of operator-adjusted hydraulic deck plates gave producers confidence they may be managing deck plate gaps and yield loss, results from a multiyear harvest study that actually measured the variability of corn stalks entering the corn head suggest otherwise.   

 PERCENT OF STALK WIDTHS MEASURED

“What we’ve learned is that growers overestimate the yield-saving ability of hydraulic deck plates in harvest conditions,” says Bollig. “There is just too much stalk variability in fields for one-for-all hydraulic deck plate adjustments to close gaps and limit yield loss.”   

DRAGO DECK PLATE ADJUSTMENTS ACROSS THE CORN HEAD†

DECK PLATE ADJUSTMENTS IN 3.5-MINUTE RUN†

Bollig notes that when hydraulic deck plates were introduced nearly 40 years ago, hybrids, plant populations and corn heads were much different than they are today. With enormous advancements in technology, corn hybrids and agronomic tools since then, hydraulic deck plates are obsolete.

“Considering the amount of stalk variability in the fields we’ve measured, it’s overly optimistic to think that a single deck plate setting is right for any corn head, regardless of size.” 

Drago’s three-year stalk variability study offers unique insights into what’s happening at the business end of a corn head –– and how automatic, self-adjusting deck plates can preserve yield while increasing ROI.  

[2021] Drago has long described the yield-saving benefits of its automatic self-adjusting deck plates for minimizing gaps compared to operator-controlled hydraulic plates. The question has been: How significant is the advantage?  

[2021] Working with HeadSight,®** an independent manufacturer of header height control systems, we measured and analyzed deck plate movement. Sensors on the corn head counted a total of nearly 163 adjustments per row per minute.   

On a per-acre basis, the automatic deck plates made nearly 5,390 adjustments involving movements from 1/8” or wider, including 1,582 adjustments of 1/4” or more, and 196 adjustments of 1/2” or greater.   

“Keep in mind that the threshold for deck plate yield loss starts at 1/8”, and each row unit averaged 606 independent adjustments per acre involving that and more,” Bollig says. “The data also showed how both the left and the right deck plate of each row unit on the Drago GT worked in unison to minimize gaps.” 

ELIMINATING ROOM FOR ERROR

“The ability to manually adjust deck plates has led to a false sense of their performance for capturing yield. The study confirmed the value of automatic self-adjusting deck plates for minimizing gaps and capturing yield every minute and in every row across the corn head is working,” Bollig says. 

“Today’s farmers have too many distractions in the combine with too much variability in the field to adequately manage their deck plates, and it’s costing them yield,” he adds.  

Compare Fig. 1 and Fig. 2

Notice how both deck plates move equally, corresponding to changes in yield.

FIGURE 1: COMBINE YIELD MONITOR REPORT

FIGURE 2: DRAGO LEFT AND RIGHT DECK PLATE MOVEMENT, ROW UNIT 2

FIGURE 3: DRAGO DECK PLATE ADJUSTMENTS

FIGURE 4: DRAGO DECK PLATE SPACING AS A PERCENTAGE OF TOTAL TIME

^{Sources
Graeme Quick field research, Iowa State University
2019 Drago harvest research [PDF]
2020 Drago harvest research [PDF]
2021 Drago harvest research [PDF]
To learn more about HeadSight® Harvesting Solutions, visit www.headsight.com.}